Ocean Fertilization Project Identification and Inventorying

Abstract

Systems and methods for coordinating ocean fertilization efforts and inventorying carbon storage unit segments in ocean fertilization projects are disclosed. The system and methods can be used to segment and identify units of carbon sequestered for storage with additional information associated with the projects. The system and methods inventory carbon storage unit segments, segment the project into single carbon unit segments, associate an identifier with each segment, and index the identified segments and associated information. The system can be implemented via a computer system.

Description

RELATED APPLICATION[0001]This application claims the benefit of U.S. Patent Provisional Application No. 60 / 986,281, entitled “System And Methods For Generating and Inventorying Sequestered Carbon,” filed Nov. 7, 2007, which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]This invention relates generally to the fields of oceanography and climatology. More specifically, the present invention relates to systems and methods for qualifying and quantifying the results of ocean fertilization activities. These system and methods are used in conjunction with ocean fertilization technology to generate carbon credits corresponding to quantities of carbon removed from the atmosphere for a requisite period of time. The systems and methods are useful for remediating the alarming increase in greenhouse gases such as, e.g., carbon dioxide resulting from the burning of fossil fuels.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]Greenhouse gas levels are set by the relative rates a...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0008]Systems and methods for addressing climate change resulting from the accumulation of atmospheric greenhouse gases are disclosed. The systems and methods include segmenting fertilization projects, inventorying carbon sequestered in the deep ocean following ocean fertilization events, and tracking the physical parameters of a project such the data generated, methods, and locatio

Problems solved by technology

However, by itself, the emission reduction approach, while important, is incomplete.

The amount of energy currently produced by non-fossil fuel energy sources is insufficient to supply the energy needs of industrialized nations, and so this approach can provide only a partial solution to the immediate and pressing problem of reducing atmospheric greenhouse gas levels.

The emission reduction approach also fails to address the previously-accumulated atmospheric greenhouse gases which are the source of the present problems posed by global warming or climate change.

The shortcomings associated with planting trees for the purpose of fixing CO2 include slow growth rate, and tendency to burn which returns CO2 back to the atmosphere and presents significant problems for forestry project developers to guarantee the permanence of carbon reductions.

These factors have made it very difficult for the carbon market to monetize carbon reductions from forestry into certified carbon credits, and the largest regulatory carbon market (The European Trading System) currently excludes the trading of forestry carbon credits In addition, trees require allocation of substantial amounts of land mass per ton of fixed carbon.

Ocean fertilization (OF), an approach that deliberately promotes the growth of marine photosynthetic organisms by the addition of one or more elements required for their growth to the ocean, and its use for mitigating climate changes arising from increased atmospheric greenhouse gas levels has been proposed, but to date has not been successfully commercialized.

To date, those trials have yielded results suggesting that while this approach has validated that ocean fertilization removes CO2, the prior art has failed to identify or enable the commercial pathway needed to bring large-scale ocean fertilization approaches to bear on the problem of remediating climate change.

Among the shortcomings of the prior art are uncertain estimates of the efficiency of carbon export resulting from ocean fertilization, thus undercutting any expectation provided by the prior art that iron fertilization can be used to alleviate climate change.

Likewise, these policy makers have set a standard of 100 years permanence for all certified carbon credits, and thus projects that cannot guarantee 100 years minimum permanence have difficulty in generating certified carbon reductions under major GHG regulatory frameworks.

Images